A migrant charged with murdering a New York landlady in a rental dispute was allowed to enter the US as an unaccompanied minor: sources

A Colombian migrant accused of killing his Queens landlady in a rent dispute was allowed into the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor — and the victim’s outraged sister says authorities kept it quiet until it was too late.

Davi Vidal, 20, crossed the border illegally in San Luis, Arizona, in June 2022, when he was 17, and was allowed to remain in the country as an unaccompanied minor – common practice for single migrant children arriving for “humanitarian reasons.”

Sources said Vidal, who told authorities he has an aunt in Wisconsin, will attend an immigration hearing upon his release, scheduled for early next year.

But on Dec. 7, 2023, Vidal was still at large when he allegedly got into a rental dispute with his landlord, Zoraida Leo, 55, attacked her and left her to die in their building on 96th Street near Northern Boulevard in East Elmhurst . said the police.

Only then did US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest the migrant.

“He is a migrant who crossed the border illegally,” Maria Leo, the victim’s sister and a naturalized citizen from the Dominican Republic, told The Post. “How come the federal government lets this criminal go just so he can kill an innocent woman – my sister? Vidal is an assassin.

“This person should receive the harshest punishment in the law,” she said. “After serving his time here, he should be deported immediately so he can never harm anyone here again.”

Maria Leo claimed that Vidal’s immigration status was never mentioned when Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the murder charge against him.

Worse, federal law enforcement sources eventually confirmed that the accused murderous migrant had been caught at the border and released before allegedly committing murder in the Big Apple.

Maria Leo even provided the Post with a copy of the defendant’s Colombian passport.

Meanwhile, the city’s Department of Corrections, which declined to comment, has an “INS arrest warrant” against Vidal.

New York City has a sanctuary law that prohibits local authorities from complying with ICE deportation orders except in certain circumstances.

Vidal’s attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

The migrant is being held without bail at Rikers Island on murder charges.

The revelation of Vidal’s status comes amid other recent crimes allegedly committed by migrants in the country illegally – including the rape of a five-year-old girl by a Honduran citizen on Long Island and a Chilean national shooting his girlfriend and her two sons, with one the boy was killed in the town of Somers in Westchester County.

“He is one of the migrants who came here to do injustice and killed my sister. I want justice for my sister! I have no idea what’s going on with the case. “I’m sad and angry,” said Maria Leo. “I want the border to be secure. So many people who come here are involved in criminal activities and killing people.”

Zoraida, who owned a two-story home in East Elmhurst, left behind four children and seven brothers and sisters.

Maria Leo said she didn’t know Vidal had an aunt in Wisconsin, but said he had two other aunts who lived on Long Island – and he lived with one of them.

However, the aunt’s husband freaked out after the migrant was caught smoking weed and was thrown out of the house, Maria Leo claimed. At the time, he was renting the apartment in Queens, and his aunt promised to pay the rent, she added.

But the aunt reneged on the agreement, letting Vidal live rent-free and spending his days smoking weed – until Zoraida Leo had enough and told him he was being kicked out, her grieving sister said.

Hiram Monserrate, a Democratic district manager in East Elmhurst and a former city councilman and state senator, went to the victim’s memorial service to pay his respects after the family reached out to him.

“They’re looking for answers,” Monserrate said. “This was a heinous crime that occurred in our community.”

Zoraida Leo was active in her local church, was a member of a local women’s rights group, and cared for her ailing 85-year-old mother, Adelaida Guzman.

“There are many people in the community who knew and loved her,” Monserrate said. “There is no doubt that we need better border security. Zoraida helped the guy and he killed her.”

A spokesman for Katz told The Post: “The defendant has been charged and remanded in custody. The case is progressing at a normal pace.”

The DA’s office declined to comment on what it knew about Vidal’s immigration status.

ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

Jon Feere, who served as a senior adviser to the ICE director under President Donald Trump, said it was not surprising that victims’ families were kept in the dark about crimes committed by migrants.

Feere, who worked at the agency from 2017 to 2020, said he helped set up a victim advocacy office within ICE, but it was disbanded after President Biden took office.

“We have seen the same scenario with other victims. This is clearer evidence that sanctuary areas are clear magnets for illegal immigration. It leads to a lot of lawlessness and that makes us victimized,” said Feere, who is now director of investigations at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Feere said the DA’s office may or may not have known about Vidal’s immigration status.

“It’s not on their radar if they’re not interested in uncovering that information,” he said.